PRESIDENT Woodrow Wilson famously described D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” as “history written in lightning.” Others have had less flattering things to say about this racist classic, even if it did virtually invent the modern feature film.

The latest chapter in the 94-year debate over the film is “Rebirth of a Nation,” a “remix” by Paul D. Miller (better known as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid), which is getting a weeklong run, alongside Griffith’s original, at the Museum of Modern Art.

Performed for years as a multimedia piece, “Rebirth” trims Griffith’s approximately three- hour epic (Griffith continued editing it, even after donating the negative to MoMA, until the museum made him stop) almost in half, adding ornate borders to turn the original squarish image into a widescreen movie.

Miller has composed an excellent new score and added a 1930 filmed interview with Griffith.

Most pointedly, Miller has also added spoken commentary on the film’s racist content — this Civil War epic, based on a novel titled “The Clansman,” glorifies the role of the Ku Klux Klan and despicably depicts black people (mostly played by white actors in blackface) as subhuman.

Delivered by Richard Davis, these remarks (which at one point try to link the movie to Hurricane Katrina!) are very much like a DVD audio track, and are accompanied by graphic effects designed to draw attention to offending items.

“Rebirth of a Nation” (which is also available on DVD) has its heart in the right place. But at this point in our history, a viewing of the full-length “The Birth of a Nation” is probably even more damning than anything in this sampling.